Homeless Students.

50 Pages·2007·0.58 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 311 338
CG 021 952
AUTHOR
Tower, C7nthia Crosson; White, Donna J.
TITLE
Homeless Students.
National Education Association, Washington, D.C.
INSTITUTION
REPORT NO
ISBN-0-8106-0245-8
PUB DATE
89
NOTE
51p.
AVAILABLE FROM
National Education Association Professional Library,
P.O. Box 509, West Haven, CT 06516 (Stock No. 0245-8,
$6.95).
PUB TYPE
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EDRS PRICE
MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS.
DESCRIPTORS
Elementary Secondary Education; Family School
Relationship; *Homeless People; *School Role;
*Student Problems; Students; *Student School
Relationship; *Teacher Response; Teacher Role;
Teachers
ABSTRACT
Since understanding homeless students and their
families is the beginning of the teacher's response to the problem,
this monograph is designed to acquaint the teacher with the variety
of issues involved in being homeless. The introduction to the
document discusses the number of homeless families, the necessity for
schools to respond quickly to homeless students before they leave,
and the school as a safe haven for the child. Chapter one provides a
brief history of homelessness and an explanation of why so many
families today are undergoing this trauma. Chapter two provides a
picture of homeless students and their families. It includes a graph
of the typical cycle of homelessness which includes numerous life
crises for the homeless family. Chapter three describes some of the
problems these students may have in the classroom and suggests ways
to address these problems. Chapter four discusses what teachers can
do to help beyond the classroom setting. The emphasis throughout
these pages is on the importance for educators to take a proactive
stance on a problem that promises to get worse before it Sets better.
A glossary of homelessness terms, such as wet shelters, is included.
A commentary on homeless children by Mary Hatwood Futrell, president
of the National Education Association; a list of advocacy
organizations for the homeless; and sample student assessment and
parent release forms are included. (ABL)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
*
from the original document.
*
*
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Homeless
Students
by Cynthia Crosson Tower
Donna J. White
nea
iR_IIMMY
National Education Association
Washington, D.0
3
Autho:s' Acknowledgments
The work and dedication of numerous people have made this monograph
possible, Our thanks to Claire Angers, Cynthia LeBlanc, Joan Freedman,
and
Richard LaBelle, who shared their experiences
as educators deeply concerned
aoout homeless children. We also recognize Michelle Fryt and Edward Smith for
the information they provided. And
we apprecia.e the enthusiasm of the stu-
dents of the "Working with the Homeless" class
at Fitchburg State College for
bringing the authors together and for giving
us the idea for the project. To Ma-
jor Victor Tidman and the staff of the Salvation Army Booth Home for their
support and concern, we ate grateful, We thank our typist, Muriel Crosson, who
gave us numerous hours of her time. Finally, we thank the homeless parents and
children who agreed to talk with us and
to share their lives so that others could
learn about their plight
It is to these families and to all homeless children that
we dedicate our efforts in the hope that this publication will make
a small con-
tribution to bettering their lives.
Copyright © 1989
National Education Association of the United States
Printing History
First Printing: September 1989
Note
The opinions expressed in this publication should
not be construed as represent-
ing the policy or position of the National Education Association.
Materials pub-
lished by the NEA Professional Library
are intended to be discussion documents
for educators who are concerned with specialized interests, of the profession.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data
Tower, Cynthia Crosson.
Homeless students.
Bibliography: p
1. Homeless studentsUnited States. 2
Homeless
studentsEducationUnited States. I. White, Donna J.
II. Title
LC5144.2.T68
1989
371.96'7
89-12481
ISBN 0-8106-0245-8
CONTENTS
Introduction
5
6
The Numbers
.......
....
.. .. 6
..
Responding Quickly
.
Providing a Safe and Secure Environment
7
..... ...... .................
..
Teaching Others
7
Contributing to Social Change and Solutions..
7
Chapter 1. Why Are Students Homeless?
A Brief Look at the Problem
9
Chapter 2. A Picture of Homeless Students
12
and Their Families
12
Itinerant Families
13
Migrant Families
16
Ethnic/Racial Factors
17
Effects of Homelessness on Children
20
Adolescents
Chapter 3. Problems of Homeless Students
23
in the Classroom: How the Teacher Can Respond ....
................ ....
.....
23
Problems in Transition
.
27
Problems with Studies
29
Problems with Peers .
31
Problems with Self-Concept
Chapter 4. What the Teacher Can Do
34
Outside the Classroom
36
Glossary of Terms
38
Appendixes
A. An American Tragedy: Homeless Children,
38
by Mary Hatwood Futrell
40
B. Advocacy Organizations for the Homeless
42
C. Sample Forms
42
Student Assessment Form
.........
45
Parent Release Form for School Records.. ....
.
Parent Release Form for Shelter-School
45
Information
46
Bibliography
The Authors
Cynthia Crosson Tower is Professor in the Human Services Program, Be-
havioral Science Department, Fitchburg State College, Massachusetts.
Dr. Tower is the author of How Schools Can Help Combat Child Abuse
and Neglect, published by NEA, and the developer of Child Abuse
and
Neglect: The NEA In-Service Training Program.
Donna J. White is Di,ector of the Salvation Army Booth Home,
a shelter
serving homeless families in Leominster, Massachusetts.
The Advisory Panel
Susan M. Chaffin, Retired Guidance Counselor, Ithaca High School,
Michigan
Audry McKenna Lynch, Guidance Counselor,
Intermediate
Bernal
School, San Jose, California
Richard D.
Scheffler, Language Arts Teacher. Northbrook Middle
School, Mendota, Illinois
Denis P. Sicchitano, School Counselo-, Boiling Springs Junior-Senio-
High School, Pennsylvania
Charles W. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of
Educational Psy-
chology, Counseling and Special Education, Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb
6
INTRODUCTION
Why do teachers need to know about homelessness?
Nine-year-old Leah listened intently to the voice of the volunteer who
came *) the homeless shelter weekly to read to and entertain the
childr
"I have a favorite story," piped up Leah when the current book was
completed.
"Which one," queried the young volunteer
The Wizard of Oz," Leah answered
"And what is your favorite part?"
Leah's eyes grew tearful as she replied in an almost inaudible voice
"My favorite part is at the end when Dorothy says, 'There's no place
like home.'
Most people often take their home for granted, but for Leah who had
been shuffled from shelter to shelter, a home is a dream she cherishes
arid hopes someday to realize.
But a home is not all that homeless students need. There is more to
their problem than four walls and a roof they can call their own. By the
time they find their dream of stabilityif in fact they ever dohomeless
studcnts have been stigmatized, humiliated, and often denied the quali-
ty of education we in the United States consider to be our human right.
Teachers can, however, help children like Leah experience the joy of
learning.
There arr several reasons why teachers should become more aware of
issues surrounding the problem of homelessness: (1) large numbers
students are now homeless, (2) teachers need to respond quickly to the
educational needs of their students; (3) teachers who understand stu-
dents' problems may be able to provide one thing homeless students
need mosta safe and s.cure environment; (4) teachers may need to
educate others in order to help provide space for the homeless student to
educators have been and can continue to be forerunners of
learn; and
(5,
social change.
*Numbers in parentheses appearing in the text rLfcr to the Bibliography beginning oli
page 46
5
THE NUMBERS
Today homeless families
are the fastest-growing population in the
United States. Of the estimated three
to four million homeless people,
over 40 percent are families. A large percentage (estimated
to be 40 per-
cent) of the children of these families do
not attend school (13). Their
reasons vary. An itinerant lifestyle makes regular attendance difficult.
Children who do attend tend
to feel "different"; they are often teased
or ridiculed by their peers.
Mike demo -istrated the feelings of
many homeless students when
he refused to have his picture taken by
a local newspaper. The report-
er hoped that his story would publicize the efforts of the area's home-
less sheer
This might be a nice place," Mike told
a volunteer after
the repo,ter had left,
but who wants the whole world to know
you
don't have no place to live but here?"
Jonathan Kozol outlines the plight of homeless children
through in-
terviews with families who live in welfare hotels (12). Of
the total home-
less population Kozol estimates that in New York City
alone, there are
18,000 homeless
parents
and children in 5,000 families (p. 4). The Dis-
trict of Columbia's Dias Hotel, housing
over 500 families nightly, has
also been highly publicized (and criticized) for its
deplorable conditions
and inadequate facilities (12,
p. 90).
It is easy for the statistics
to become faceless numbersfor homeless
problems to be seen
as some phenomena happening "out there," Ina
not touching our own lives. Yet, increasingly, teachers
report finding
more and more students who describe the horrors of homelessness.
"When five of the
children in my class gave the
25
same address, I
began to wonder," reported
one teacher. "I soon discovered that 380
Beach Street was the address of the homeless shelter."
The sheer num-
bers of homeless students make it mandatory
that teachers prepare to
teach them.
RESPONDING QUICKLY
Not only must teachers be armed with knowledge
about the homeless
to meet the needs of increasing numbers of homeless students, but they
are being forced to respond quickly and creatively
to the issues that
homelessness creates. The itinerant
nature of homeless families and the
short stays allowed by shelters (usually between
30 and 90 days) mean
that students move from school
to school. Consequently, there is often
little or no time to undertake lengthy educational
evaluation. "By the
6
time we got the referral for education assessn ent in motion," comment-
ed an elementary school principal, "the child had left the school."
Thus teachers and the schools in which they teach must be able to do
quick, informal assessments of students' needs until more formal means
knowledge about
are possible. Such informal responses require basic
homeless students and their families, what they experience, and why
they find themselves in this situation.
PROVIDING A SAFE AND SECURE ENVIRONMENT
As teachers begin to recognize the pressures placed upon homeless
families, they realize that the children are denied security and stability.
For Leah "a home" meant that the would feel sale and secure. Since
homeless parents who have histories of abuse and instability are caught
provide a
up in the logistics of survival, it is often difficult for them to
safe atmosphere for their children. The school may be the only haven in
the child's lifehowever brief the attendance. Teachers who understand
what homeless children have experienced and know how to respond to
them are better able to provide the warmth and nurturing these students
so desperately need.
TEACHING OTHERS
Part of the homeless experience for these students involves being stig-
matized and often taunted by other children. The informed teacher will
be able to sensitize others to the issue of homelessness and, it is hoped,
minimize some of the pressure homeless student:, feel from their peers.
Nor are peers the only ones who may need to be sensitized to the is-
administrators, and commu-
sues facing homeless students. Colleagues,
nity leaders often benefit from additional knowledge shared with them
by an informed teacher.
CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOLUTIONS
As with so many other issues (e.g., child abuse, drug abuse), teachers
experience, a better
are in an ideal position to gain, through classroom
picture of the needs of homeless students and to be instrumental in
meeting those needs. As they learn how Lo address these students'
unique problems, teachers can more easily suggest, design, or institute
learners as it
new programs that will make education as available to these
is to others.
7
--)
Since understanding homeless students and their families is the
begin-
ning of the teacher's response
to the problem, this monograph is de-
signed to acqvaint the eacher with the
variety of issues involved in be-
ing homeless. Chapter 1 provides
a brief history of homelessness and an
explanation of why so many families today
are undergoing this trauma.
Chapter 2 gives a picture of homeless students and their families. Chap-
ter 3 describes some of the problems these students may have in the
classroom and suggests ways to address these problems.
Chapter 4 dis-
cusses what teachers can do to help beyond the classroom setting. The
emphasis throughout these pages is the importance of educators taking
a
proactive stance on a problem that promises
to get worse before it gets
better. The monograph, then,
sets the groundwork for helping the
homeless student both now and in the future.
8
Chapter 1
WHY ARE STUDENTS HOMELESS?
A BRIEF LOOK AT THE PROBLEM
There have always been people who were homeless. The problem may
have been called by a different name or n- ay have been dealt with in dif-
ferent ways, but the fact is dr, homele.sness has existed througl- the
centuries. Many people remember the vagrants or tramps of several de-
cade., ago men who sometimes begged or asked for odd jobs to earn a
few dollars to buy food. Vagrantspeople who often had problems such
as alcoholism or some form of mental or physical disorderwere treated
with varying degrees of indulgence. During the mid-1800s, most of these
homeless had the option of being taken in by families who might receive
a small fee from the town for their care. Later, they were kept overnight
in police stations, which became the first kind of shelter (4). Tramps, on
tne other hind, were a mobile force of workers who mined, lumbered,
herded, harvested, or performed any number of jobs, traveling from
place to place wherever they could find work.
In the late 1890s society began to react to the phenomenon of the
homeless in a more organized manner than sheltering them in police sta-
tions, families, or churches. By 1894, New York City had 105 lodging
houses to accommodate 16,000 homeless for a fee as small as three to
thirty-five cents a night. But shelters like these were far from adequate or
even sanitary; therefore other solutions were sought (4)
Then, an increased demand for unskilled workers by new factories and
agricultural enterprises seemed to lessen the problem somewhat. fhe
next period that stands out in history was the 1930s when economic de-
pression forced many to join the ranks of the unemployed and some-
times inevitable homelessness. At this time the complexion of homeless-
ness began to change.
Certainly there were homeless families before the great depression,
but society seemed to have found ways to provide for mithers and chil-
dren. Some were boarded with other families, some were relegated to
poorhouses. But arrangements always seemed possible to make when
children were involved.
9